Interview: 50 Cent

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The movie, the videogame and his life in the big time.

By Jeff Otto

There are a lot of stereotypes about rappers out there. The thug life, the guns, the drugs, the women&#Array; Love it or leave it, 50 Cent has seen a lot for a 29-year-old man. You may not agree with everything he says in his raps or in interviews, but he's still undeniably compelling.

If you've read about "50," as he is referred to by his seemingly endless entourage, you've already heard the stories. Born Curtis Jackson, there was the drug-dealing youth in Jamaica Queens, the death of his mother when he was only 8 years old and the shooting that nearly took his life just as his first album was set for release. There are the endless beefs with other members of the hip-hop community, from Ja Rule to Fat Joe and, most recently, Lil' Kim. Even as a superstar in almost every arena of entertainment, 50 can't seem to escape the troubles of his past life.

IGN FilmForce took to the air just after Hurricane Katrina to go to Miami and meet with 50 on the morning of his performance at the 2005 Video Music Awards. The previous night, Death Row Records head honcho Suge Knight was shot in the leg at popular Miami club The Shore. As the city prepares for MTV's big night on the heels of Katrina, the shooting adds some extra tension to the day. The security at the awards is sure to be extremely tight.

Outside of the South Beach Ritz Carlton, where we set to meet 50, giant tour buses marked with the "G Unit" logo line the side street. We are led through the extravagant hotel, into the restaurant and finally into a small private room in the back. As we wait for 50 to enter, members of his entourage come through, checking out the room, closing the drapes and checking around the restaurant. A few large men, one who could easily play front line for the Dolphins, wait patiently.

Time passes and our cups of coffee and glasses of orange juice are filled again and again. By the time 50 nears arrival, I'm hyped up on seven cups of coffee and I've had enough vitamin C to ward off the black plague. I sneak away for a bathroom break just before he comes in.

50's entrance is surprisingly low key. I guess his security didn't think we looked like much of a threat, because 50 enters the room without a publicist or any members of security. Should I be offended? Far from press shy, 50 shakes hands and gives the guys manly side hugs. The women get a full-on hug and a kiss on the cheek. He wears an oversized "M.O.P." t-shirt, the trademark white do rag with a black cap turned to the side and enough bling to outfit Tiffany's. Life is good when you're 50 Cent.

Soft spoken and all smiles, he appears completely at ease in front of the glowing red lights of our recorders. He actually seems like he's enjoying hanging with the press. Hey, maybe this guy can act? He sits to join us at the table and the interview begins.

Self-promotion is something 50 Cent takes very seriously. Many rappers have a reputation for blowing off interviews, but 50 says he sees the importance. "You know, I work with so many different journalists for different publications that come through to write small stories. I read all of the stories that people write about me. The ones that are really interesting are the ones where they actually write their take on me as opposed to just printing what I said, because they're asking similar questions so often, sometimes it just sounds like I'm answering the questions different intentionally.

50 and Sheridan

"The misperception is gangster 50. That's the biggest misconception. Because, I can be those things that people &#Array; I have a reputation. My past is my shadow, it follows me everywhere I go. Well, all those things come from when I had no other choice. They put my back against the wall. I do what I gotta do. Because hip-hop has no requirements, you deal with people that have the least intelligence on the planet. Some of the people that compare themselves to me, compare themselves to me because they rap and I rap. They can't even read the contracts that they sign to be a rapper, to do the deal."

After two enormously successful albums, Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre, 50 Cent is parlaying his current fame into other arenas. He's promoting his own G Unit clothing line, he just released his own autobiography From Pieces to Weight, his videogame, entitled Bulletproof, releases later this year, and perhaps biggest of all is 50's feature debut at the hands of acclaimed director Jim Sheridan, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Set for release on November 9th, 50 Cent plays a character, loosely based on himself, named Marcus.

50 and Joy Bryant

50's book and the screenplay for Get Rich were written almost simultaneously. "We was compiling information at the same time. It was difficult. If I asked you to tell me your life story right now, you'll miss so many things that are vivid&#Array; [You'll have] one conversation that you'll have to come back [to] and you'll have all these different things that happened in your life that are significant that you'll have to kind of fit in the timeline, because that happened between this and this&#Array; We kind of got all the information together between the things that I said on tape to [screenwriter] Terry [Winter] and the things that I said on tape to Kris Ex &#Array; we put them all together and they got all the information. The book has a little more detail to things, because the film is really loosely based&#Array; That's why I still had to prepare for the role in the film. It's like, there [are] portions of it that are a little more fictional to make it fit cinematically&#Array;"